FAKE OR FORTUNE SE1EO4 VAN MEEGEREN

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2018
  • The art world can prove a bear pit, with a myriad of tricksters at work. Experts estimate that anything between 20%-40% of works of art on the market are faked. And they can turn up in the most unexpected places.
    Hanging in one of the most prestigious and respected art institutes in London is a picture Philip has heard of, which may hold the key to unlocking the story of the most audacious forger of all time. A man who dared to fake the work of Old Masters and made millions from his deception, until he was caught in 1945: Han Van Meegeren.
    But a mystery remains to this day, as Van Meegeren died before a complete record of his fakes was made. How did he pull off faking Old Master paintings, duping important art galleries in to making purchases of works apparently by Vermeer, even foxing Goering in to buying one of his works during the war?
    Philip and Fiona get to work on the London picture which, legend has it, hung in Van Meegeren's studio on the day he was arrested. Was it his last work? And by testing it, can we prove how he out-foxed some of the most eminent minds in the art world?
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ความคิดเห็น • 441

  • @annamo9354
    @annamo9354 ปีที่แล้ว +67

    What this episode particularly highlights to me is the sheer snobbery and aloofness of the art world in general. A friend of mine who is an artist once told me that "a good artist is first and foremost a good salesperson". You have to make people think that what they own can induce the envy of others, so they go out and buy one of your works as well. The amount of money paid for some works of art is more than ridiculous!! I would buy a picture because I love the subject and looking at it makes me happy...thankfully this is why the art that hangs on my walls is by my two most favourite artists on this planet...my two little daughters. No Monet or Dali can hold a candle to that. 😊

    • @allensaunders449
      @allensaunders449 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Still a business for it to exist people need to make money like it it not

    • @creature57
      @creature57 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      My favorite artwork hanging in my home is by my nephew, the kids I baby sat and my friends' kids when they were young. Priceless and made with love.

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I've got paintings of my pets, painted by my niece. Other than photos of family (many now passed) is a small picture she painted at a much younger age -- it marks the transition where she started learning proper painting.

    • @parthsavyasachi9348
      @parthsavyasachi9348 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This is so true. After painting whole life what i value is what is done by my daughter.

    • @linmonash1244
      @linmonash1244 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Exactly. Imagine being one of the old masters, spending decades perfecting your craft, studying: the blending of paints, the correct treatment of canvasses, anatomy, how to create the exact luminescence of skin texture, light in the eyes, etc. etc.... and then coming forward in time. Stepping into a modern art gallery and watching someone pay $ 1 Mill for 3 square blocks of colour and a couple of lines. 😵‍💫 { Actually... Maybe I can make some Kindergarten Art and see if I can convince the gullible it has profound meaning. YOU could try to sell your children's art! 🤣🙃😉 }

  • @michaeljohnangel6359
    @michaeljohnangel6359 3 ปีที่แล้ว +96

    The trouble with "experts" is that they give theit opinions on things that they don't actually know how to do. The Vermeer "Girl with the Pearl Earring," for example, was re-created in the lab without first painting the typical 17th-century grisaille (black-&-white grey) underpainting that gives luminosity to the colours. We saw this grisaille layer (on top of an orange base, known as the bole ground) in the paint samples being examined in the lab.
    This programme doesn't mention that van Meegeren was considered a hero by the Dutch, after the war. He had swapped his fake Vermeer for dozens of authentic Dutch Old Master paintings that Göering had stolen, thus stopping the Nazis from taking them to Germany.
    On a final note, the great French 19th-century landscape painter Théodore Rousseau said, "When we are discussing forgeries, we're talking about the bad ones. The good ones are all on museum walls."

    • @audreymuzingo933
      @audreymuzingo933 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Every bit of this comment was worth reading, thanks so much!

    • @michaeljohnangel6359
      @michaeljohnangel6359 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@audreymuzingo933 Thank you! That's lovely of you!!!

    • @samscarboro6805
      @samscarboro6805 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you for sharing!

    • @annethayer3444
      @annethayer3444 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      They did mention that he was a hero to the Dutch ....

  • @viz8746
    @viz8746 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Just admit it - Van Meegeren was a genius and a painter of a very high technical caliber, who was wronged and scorned both by his family and the art world, and ended up having the last laugh.

    • @KpxUrz5745
      @KpxUrz5745 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Oh? I find him to be a pathetically untalented and twisted individual. And anyone fooled should really take another look at their own credentials. The examples I have seen are very poorly conceived and drawn, and hopelessly maudlin.

  • @leeanucha
    @leeanucha 5 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    FAKE OR FORTUNE has gotten me into the art world. This is a very good show!

  • @BritishRiver
    @BritishRiver 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

    I have been binge-watching Fake or Fortune and I believe this is my favorite episode. It is PACKED with information on art and the art world. Wonderful.

  • @graceaxisa4213
    @graceaxisa4213 2 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    So, I reckon, find a contemporary and upcoming artist who you admire, purchase a piece that sings to you and keep it forever more! Forget about how much the piece will cost in the future. Do it because you love it. But, don't forget to ask for a receipt!

    • @amberspecter1
      @amberspecter1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I reckon, find a contemporary and upcoming forger, etc.

    • @karenstewart4655
      @karenstewart4655 ปีที่แล้ว

      I’m

    • @karenstewart4655
      @karenstewart4655 ปีที่แล้ว

      Lp o😊ippp😅pp

    • @RiverJames1
      @RiverJames1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Have you a contemporary artist you admire ?

    • @terryt.1643
      @terryt.1643 3 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I was thinking the same thing. Tape the receipt in an envelope to the back and enjoy it for life and hope an ancestor does, too.

  • @simonlloyd7557
    @simonlloyd7557 3 ปีที่แล้ว +69

    The thing is, people have seen these fakes in galleries and collections and probably enjoyed them on a deeply personal and emotional level...Therefore, a fake must still be wonderful art.

    • @benediktmorak4409
      @benediktmorak4409 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      i think it still is. otherwise,why is it so hard to find out the difference between real or fake?( In Vienna there's a Museum of fake art. EVERYTHING one can see there is not what it seems to be. Might that be stone age - coins-, people fell for it, or pictures of old masters. it is amazing what had come together over the years). Like the Tiergarten Schönbrunn, the - Fälscher Museum - a must see when in Vienna.

    • @bethbartlett5692
      @bethbartlett5692 ปีที่แล้ว

      Correct.

    • @SamsungGalaxy-px5nm
      @SamsungGalaxy-px5nm ปีที่แล้ว

      @@benediktmorak4409 ZZZ ZZZ ZZZ z ZZZ ZZZ z ZZZ sass ZZZ zz zz ZZZzz ZZZz zzz z zzzzZA z1zzzli

    • @audreymuzingo933
      @audreymuzingo933 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I think it was said in another episode, paraphrasing here: "If it looks authentic and as far as anyone can tell it's authentic, then it IS authentic. A piece is as real as people believe it is" or something like that. But at the same time, I think the same goes for talent too. A work is is as good as people believe it is. So there is where I can't help but admire forgers. If they can fool everyone into thinking they created something by someone "good" and it looks "good" in the same way that that person created things, then they ARE GOOD artists!!

    • @benediktmorak4409
      @benediktmorak4409 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@audreymuzingo933 i think forgers ARE good artists. otherwise, how would they have gotten away with so much for such a long time?

  • @ericaf7945
    @ericaf7945 5 ปีที่แล้ว +69

    John did a spectacular job considering he didn't have the exact formula of Van Meegran's paints

    • @anonanon9289
      @anonanon9289 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Rag bill eroMro

    • @annnee6818
      @annnee6818 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Yeah, it really looked very good from a distance, he really got her facial expression right

    • @Lookup2Wakeup
      @Lookup2Wakeup ปีที่แล้ว

      He probably didn't want to do too good a job in order not to incriminate his other forgeries still out there in the Art world....😁

    • @MossyMozart
      @MossyMozart ปีที่แล้ว

      @Eric F - He is certainly excellent at drawing.

  • @crafael.
    @crafael. 5 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    thanks for your effort to upload all this series. well done mate👍🏻

  • @anttibjorklund1869
    @anttibjorklund1869 3 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    "After completing a painting, van Meegeren would bake it at 100 °C (212 °F) to 120 °C (248 °F) to harden the paint, and then roll it over a cylinder to increase the cracks. Later, he would wash the painting in black India ink to fill in the cracks.[4][24]"
    Wikipedia.

    • @smithersrob
      @smithersrob ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Watching the baking and cracking process I wondered whether it mightn't have worked much better if they had taken it out after a shorter period of baking, cracked it when it was partially dry but not enough that it was fully disintegrating with large fragments flying off the canvas, added a varnish or thin layer of the resin to stabilise the partial cracks then finish the baking process off. The forger in the episode had one go and did a pretty impressive job, I reckon with time and experimentation with different variations on the technique he could have nailed it.

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz ปีที่แล้ว

      @@smithersrob They also did not show any kind of varnish layer.
      I'm guessing adding Bakelite to the primer (the grey layer) would both improve adhesion to it, and improve the cracking. If the primer were made with Bakelite properly mixed in as a binder, it would form a very hard base.

  • @johnkochen7264
    @johnkochen7264 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    The art critics: “You have no talent. You are useless!”
    Van Meegeren: “Hold my beer….”

  • @stuart8663
    @stuart8663 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    One of the best episodes ever. Inspiring!

  • @DutchCreekRanch1
    @DutchCreekRanch1 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Amazing story. Thank you for all of your hard work and documentation.

  • @UsernamesForDummies
    @UsernamesForDummies 5 ปีที่แล้ว +43

    Van Meegeren’s trial was really what I’d call being stuck between a rock and a hard place. There would only be one instance I’d chose to out myself as a forger. This is it. What a story!

  • @alex0589
    @alex0589 5 ปีที่แล้ว +67

    This was such a cool upside down episode. Real is fake, fake is real, the institute needs the show to figure out if THEIR painting is real. The forger is the artist. I loved it. Thanks for the upload!

    • @wildandbarefoot
      @wildandbarefoot 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Could have headed this spoiler alert

    • @FigaroHey
      @FigaroHey ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@wildandbarefoot Don't worry - I can't make heads or tails of the comment, personally. Up is down, down is up, heads are tails, tails are heads - huh?

    • @wildandbarefoot
      @wildandbarefoot ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@FigaroHeyit's all in motion I guess....

    • @MossyMozart
      @MossyMozart ปีที่แล้ว

      @@wildandbarefoot - Spoiler alerts are silly. We are adults here.

  • @heidi-mariadegruchy7641
    @heidi-mariadegruchy7641 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Fantastic programme -love this!! So interesting :0

  • @dvaldez4900
    @dvaldez4900 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    My wife had Pauline, his daughter, make sketches of herself, (my wife, Irene Teunisen). Pauline was such a wonderful talent herself. My wife lived in Dieren nearby and her father was a doctor there. She, father, mother and sister survived the war and the 'hunger winter'. Later she was a KLM hostess in 1st class and wasn't aware that Audrey Hepburn was also a KLM about 15 tears ahead of Irene. Anyway, everyone has a story of their life, etc, etc...

  • @lupodisol
    @lupodisol 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Ive watched this piece several times; I never get tired watching it, its still fascinating almost spellbinding.

  • @marycahill546
    @marycahill546 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Fascinating. Thanks for posting!

  • @PhilMace
    @PhilMace 5 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    Love this story. Love the Dutch cunning and intelligence.

  • @jimsy5530
    @jimsy5530 5 ปีที่แล้ว +43

    Cracking the paint - if it was me, I'd heat it, then cool it rapidly, as the paint and canvas will cool at different speeds, causing cracking in the resin.

    • @Lookup2Wakeup
      @Lookup2Wakeup 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Agreed. That is what can happen to lacquered guitar tops .............

    • @ericaf7945
      @ericaf7945 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Maybe adding water from behind may have done a better job

    • @zogzog1063
      @zogzog1063 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Referral to Interpol duly noted (just kidding)

    • @simonlloyd7557
      @simonlloyd7557 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yes, warm it with a hair dryer and then use freeze spray (compressed air basically) which will freeze it immediately.

    • @barnabyaprobert5159
      @barnabyaprobert5159 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I've read of forgers simply popping the painting in the oven for awhile!

  • @ronmcknight1500
    @ronmcknight1500 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Great program love fake and for

  • @mattkaustickomments
    @mattkaustickomments 5 ปีที่แล้ว +114

    I must admit, I admire the master forgers. For their skill, for their audacity, and for sticking it to hoity-toities.

    • @banjopete
      @banjopete 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Matt Kustom Kostumes , where did this bitterness begin Matt?

    • @peppigue
      @peppigue 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Yup. Great art is truly a great thing, and some of the world's moneyed gentry are good people. But the pretention, the insulation from the real world is all over them.

    • @princesspatriot1544
      @princesspatriot1544 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Lol

    • @heraldeventsandfilms5970
      @heraldeventsandfilms5970 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@banjopete Well said Peter, well-said. So familiar with talentless drones.

    • @MossyMozart
      @MossyMozart ปีที่แล้ว

      @Matt's Kaustic Komments - It is a case of consumer fraud. When somebody buys something, they have the right to get what they paid for. When an institution uses their supporter's donated money and their visitor's admission funds and gift shop purchases to buy convincing fakes, they are not the only ones wronged, but a whole string of people are.

  • @rickmaggie1
    @rickmaggie1 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love are the commercials every few minutes, it makes me want to watch more mightwenotbehappy videos

  • @kje3429
    @kje3429 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fantastic episode!

  • @PLuMUK54
    @PLuMUK54 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I cannot find it in my heart to be horrified by van Meegren. Too many in the art world, experts, dealers and collectors, are so pompous that anyone who pricks their bubbles gets my support.
    Perhaps I am more criminal than I am willing to admit! I do feel sorry for the victims, but it is not my primary reaction.
    I can also understand why van Meegeren's work has value now. The backstory alone is worth it, but so many of them are truly beautiful.
    Actually, I am far more horrified by the sheer number of paintings held in store at the Reijksmuseum, and presumably all museums. I wonder how many of them will never be seen by other than the staff? It is a tragedy that so much art cannot be enjoyed.

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz ปีที่แล้ว

      It's no different to those who buy Tesla stock or the latest Crypto-meme-token thingies. It's only valuable because a group of people covet it far beyond its actual value. And that crowd's opinion can change overnight, thus "destroying" the value. Actually, I'd say buying a painting is better than buying crypto currencies, since the paintings do have some actual value.

  • @watchmedo635
    @watchmedo635 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Fiona’s conversation with the forger was incredibly insightful. The gentleman should write a memoir!

  • @anissaapolinario
    @anissaapolinario 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I love this episode. Enjoyed Philip and Fiona's reactions when they found out the results 😁

  • @jeadevoe209
    @jeadevoe209 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    another great episode that proves the true crime was against the artist Van Meegeren when his own work was rejected and he was declared a no talent hack by the so called experts. he proved them wrong as his work now hangs in museums around the world attributed to some of the most highly regarded artist. when authenticity means more than aesthetics and only a few so called experts can make that call there is an inherit problem that will always lead to fraud. hope you do many more episode's I will be watching Thank you

  • @paulamourad4699
    @paulamourad4699 5 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    I cracked up when Fiona said "...or it could burst into flames" XD

  • @Tina06019
    @Tina06019 5 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    I would love to own a John Myatt painting.

    • @dashinvaine
      @dashinvaine ปีที่แล้ว

      I'll do one for you for £200

  • @noblenotes27
    @noblenotes27 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I have all the respect of the artist of fakes but his skill level you must respect as extremely excellent.He seam to be a very nice human being one would like to know. This was a great episode.Thank You Thank You
    .

  • @kareharpies
    @kareharpies 3 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    If the Courtauld Institute of Art is a center of excellence for the study of art history why do they need fake or fortune's help? Unlike the other normal people on this show, this institution has all the technology, expertise, and global resources at their disposal to solve their own problem. Seems they just wanted some PR🤷‍♀️

    • @ogukuo72
      @ogukuo72 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      True!

    • @bonnieroggensees6003
      @bonnieroggensees6003 ปีที่แล้ว

      It is a good question. I'd love to ask one of the stars of the show! I think you're right that they wanted free publicity for whatever reason.

    • @BufferlowBill
      @BufferlowBill ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Well why not have The Coutauld Institute agree to assistance? They surely don’t know everything. So other instinctive and cognitive intelligence must have a go. Besides; this was a terrific episode.

    • @benediktmorak4409
      @benediktmorak4409 ปีที่แล้ว

      as we have seen in these episodes, even the - absolute experts - can err. And since this Series is not a -Punch & Judy show, there are also other excellent laboratories and Institutes present, why not the mas well. A little bit of advertising never does any harm?

    • @MossyMozart
      @MossyMozart ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @kareharpies - As they pointed out in the episode, the institution's art experts were divided about whether it was genuine or fake. They needed fresh eyes and someone to discover van Meegeren's use of Bakelite. Now, museums and collectors all over the world are now probably having their works tested for the substance!

  • @MiguelAngelmazr
    @MiguelAngelmazr ปีที่แล้ว

    Fabulous documentary!

  • @quistwing
    @quistwing 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    oh how pleasantly surprised i was to see john myatt in the episode!!

  • @hannahbaxter8825
    @hannahbaxter8825 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Called it from first look. I love this show.

  • @maryloumawson6006
    @maryloumawson6006 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I've never understood why a "forgery" that was taken for a "genuine" isn't lauded by the art community. It takes a great deal more skill to recreate a masterpiece than for an accepted master to turn out a painting. Of course, in the case of centuries-old painters who are long dead, the implication is that their paintings represent a finite body of work. But if a painting is so good that it fools even the experts, why then is it not valued similarly? An image is an image. Why create this fake value by including history into the evaluation? Why are old masterpieces so valuable even though they're ugly, and capture images that no one would care to look at over their dinner table?

    • @lindaheath784
      @lindaheath784 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      If this artist is so Good why couldn't the artist do his own.. r

    • @jimihendrix3143
      @jimihendrix3143 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Probably for the same reason some people pay large sums for NFTs.

    • @patriciahadley2374
      @patriciahadley2374 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lindaheath784. They probably lacked completely in fantasy which is what makes a painting fascinating. Oh, they were very gifted painters, as good as the original artists, but were too lazy to create something of their own, which is an amazingly difficult thing to do...something which has never been seen or done before.

    • @chuckmaddox6725
      @chuckmaddox6725 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@lindaheath784 because there's a lot less money in that

  • @christophermichael.w.7577
    @christophermichael.w.7577 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I was astonished to learn how paint was made.The white made from stale urine buried in a dung heap really surprised me.

    • @brittanyt729
      @brittanyt729 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      What would be even cooler is if they explained what chemical reactions were taking place to create the white compound. For example why stale urine vs fresh urine. Does evaporation lead to a more concentrated chemical? Is dung heap about creating the right temperature for the reaction to work or does it also have chemicals that are reacting with the lead?

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz ปีที่แล้ว

      Some other TV show re-created it in detail. Lead spirals are placed in urns and covered with straw loaded with dung and left to fume for some time. The white flakes off the lead and they repeat.

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz ปีที่แล้ว

      @@brittanyt729 Start with en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_white#Production_methods .
      Details are given by ChatCPT, without even needing to use the Browser plug-in.
      >quote>
      The use of urine in the production of lead white pigment, also known as lead(II) carbonate, dates back to ancient times and was commonly used until the late 19th century. Stale urine was specifically used because it contains ammonia, which is produced when urea in the urine breaks down over time.
      The general process of creating lead white with urine involves the following steps:
      1. Sheets or strips of lead are rolled up or otherwise arranged in earthenware pots.
      2. Each pot is then filled with vinegar (acetic acid), which reacts with the lead to form lead acetate.
      3. The pots are then placed in a larger container, which is filled with manure or another fermenting organic material. The heat from the fermentation process accelerates the reaction.
      4. Urine is then added to the larger container, where it decomposes and produces ammonia.
      5. The ammonia reacts with the lead acetate to form lead carbonate (lead white), which precipitates out and can be collected from the lead sheets.
      The use of *stale urine* is important because fresh urine does not contain a significant amount of ammonia. It takes some time for the urea in the urine to break down into ammonia, so only after the urine has been allowed to sit (become "stale") will it be useful in this process.
      The production of lead white using this method is a slow process, typically taking several weeks. It was eventually replaced by more efficient industrial methods in the 19th and 20th centuries.

  • @KatrinaRoseT
    @KatrinaRoseT 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    The chemist at the college is fabulous! Personable and able to explain very succinctly the toxicity. I’d imagine he is an excellent professor, very engaging for students.

  • @soniatriana9091
    @soniatriana9091 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wow! What a fascinating episode! I’m sure everyone involved was equally fascinated - what an unbelievable career to choose! Its very unique & it requires an immense amount of knowledge, skill, & analytical thinking! Everyone is a detective of some kind!!
    The forgers who have successfully fooled the experts are equally skilled, knowledgeable, & conniving! Just like all high stakes criminals, they are astute, but they’re on the wrong side of the Law! No wonder these criminals go on to become successful consultants in today’s business world, they’ve been on the other side & they know exactly how criminals think & operate!

  • @danielclaeys7598
    @danielclaeys7598 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This is why art should be bought from a living artist and besides that, the dead ones don't need the money.

  • @stephencrane552
    @stephencrane552 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    thx for this.

  • @benlikebike
    @benlikebike 3 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    I love art forgery. I'm not sure which part of it makes me more giddy- the rich people being defrauded or the experts being defrauded.
    Either way, pompous people who have no connection to real life are being ripped off and I'm stoked regardless

    • @fredarcher7264
      @fredarcher7264 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      What about a poorer person who loses money as a consequence of being duped by a forgery ? What about the fact that a forger distorts the catalogue raisonne of an artist ? I am appalled by the petty and vindictive nature of your post .

    • @henrylivingstone2971
      @henrylivingstone2971 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      @@fredarcher7264
      While I do agree the original poster is being petty in his rationale to see others taking financial damage but your reasoning falls short of justification as well. Regarding the artist, most of them are dead so who cares? These artists have literally been dead for centuries what difference does it make? Also what the hell is a poor person doing taking risks on expensive pairings? Any financial hardships brought upon by forgeries is their fault and their fault alone, if they don’t have the financial means to gamble on antique paintings they shouldn’t get involved.

    • @franklesser5655
      @franklesser5655 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@henrylivingstone2971 That's right! A poor person who may love art has no business buying a work of art even if it may be an inexpensive piece that he can afford. Ownership of art is responsibly done only by wealthy people.

    • @henrylivingstone2971
      @henrylivingstone2971 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@franklesser5655
      You’re taking this to the extremes. And you’re purposefully misconstruing my stance. Art as a hobby or personal collection is fine but art as an investment should be left to those who won’t be rendered destitute in the case of a forgery.
      Anyone should be able to purchase art (if they can afford to do so). If one is financially unstable, they have no business in investing in art whatsoever. The art market is a very volatile market and someone who doesn’t have disposable income shouldn’t be banking their paycheck on what might be a forgery.

    • @franklesser5655
      @franklesser5655 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@henrylivingstone2971 Yes, I agree. Those that are, "financially unstable have no business in investing in art whatsoever." If only those, "financially unstable," individuals would learn.

  • @carlosvagner5721
    @carlosvagner5721 ปีที่แล้ว

    From Taubaté Vale do Paraíba SP Brazil - Beautiful video, success to channel 2023

  • @kaydonahue
    @kaydonahue 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    For fooling the Nazis with a fake, instead of the original national treasure, he should have a medal!

  • @dawn5227
    @dawn5227 4 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    I just love how Goring was duped. You have to love a forgery on that alone.

    • @scottmclennan6114
      @scottmclennan6114 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Dawn yes it’s a pity he didn’t find out he had been duped in his lifetime.

    • @22espec
      @22espec 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The best part, they told him that he has bought a forgery before his execution, and his reaction was the one who has seen true evil for the first time.

    • @anttibjorklund1869
      @anttibjorklund1869 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@22espec He committed suicide before he was to be executed.

    • @Suzyfromtheblock
      @Suzyfromtheblock ปีที่แล้ว

      Sir Alec Guinness could have played van meagren in a film, so alike

  • @sergiosaenz859
    @sergiosaenz859 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    It is sad that this is not an original. But it is a great piece. Fun.

  • @bruh_hahaha
    @bruh_hahaha 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I love these early episodes! They use the Basic Instinct and DaVinci Code movie theme music to set a really cool mood

  • @DeniseF
    @DeniseF 5 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    I wouldn't mind paying for an exact forgery of let's say, a davinci painting..it's better than having nothing I guess. It takes skill to replicate a master

    • @robertlowe5682
      @robertlowe5682 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Van Meegeren didn't make exact copies, he made originals.

    • @michaeljohnangel6359
      @michaeljohnangel6359 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      I'll paint one for you, if you want. I could paint a convincing copy, or create an "original' for you. Email me through our art academy in Florence, Italy: www.angelacademyofart.com

    • @manjitkapri1816
      @manjitkapri1816 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@michaeljohnangel6359 no dude I want davinci himself painting it for me

    • @22espec
      @22espec 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Van Meegeren forgeries are really expensives.

  • @FigaroHey
    @FigaroHey ปีที่แล้ว

    I keep waiting to hear about the famous painting forger Art Van de Laye.

  • @aujay
    @aujay ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Most of the so called legitimate Art World, should in fact be the ones behind bars!

  • @Songbirdstress
    @Songbirdstress ปีที่แล้ว

    Looking forwards to this, the great forgers are great artists in their own right. Should be interesting.
    edit Top notch epi. Fascinatingg

  • @susanhazard632
    @susanhazard632 5 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    From my experience as a painter, if they had wet the canvas from the rear and let it dry, the cracking would have occurred. The canvas expands and shrinks with moisture, and the paint layer doesn't, hence the cracking occurs when the canvas stretches and contracts.

    • @enriquecastro2065
      @enriquecastro2065 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Not exactly

    • @DanielJackson2010
      @DanielJackson2010 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      The problem they faced, though, wasn't the lack of craquelure as much as the fact that the paint didn't adhere properly to the canvas. Van Meegeren must have used some more forgery tricks of the trade there other than simply adding a foreign substance into the mix. But perhaps they've only went overboard with the temperature. perhaps the trick is slowly increasing the temperature - and/or letting the painting first dry naturally for some weeks or months before baking. Or alternating between baking and freezing.

    • @erichraudebaugh
      @erichraudebaugh ปีที่แล้ว

      If they had used traditional hide glue gesso, I think that repeated wet/dry cycles would have produced the craquelure. So I agree with you.

  • @fauchejuliano
    @fauchejuliano 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I had no idea it was so hard to copy a real Van Meegeren!

  • @barbarajones5961
    @barbarajones5961 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I have studied his work and story for years. He was cought and paid his dues. He is still to this day an incredible artist. The talent is still there. Let's support his artistic abilities and honesty. NOW, I say.

  • @indoororchidsandtropicals358
    @indoororchidsandtropicals358 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    28:00 how about you buy the picture you love instead of buying it for the name? Wouldn't that be something?

  • @carolynmcpherson2667
    @carolynmcpherson2667 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fascinating!

  • @stephan1752
    @stephan1752 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The Art World is that world where art experts - those committees, foundations and institutes and academies, in collaboration with art dealers and auction houses pimp art and artists’ legacies to their clients, the collectors and investors, for fortunes the artists could never even have dreamt of. Every time the pimp or client gets “taken in” with a fake or forgery and their collections and fortunes become adulterated by a thing they can’t distinguish from the thing it pretends to be, a little poetic justice is delivered.
    Viva you sweet exquisite poetic justice, viva!

  • @lwaliz
    @lwaliz ปีที่แล้ว

    Very interesting!

  • @georgiesmith106
    @georgiesmith106 ปีที่แล้ว

    Brilliant👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

  • @ronniealex5523
    @ronniealex5523 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Brilliant!!!

  • @krystynabarakan4805
    @krystynabarakan4805 ปีที่แล้ว

    In1960-70 ties the art dealers were on the run to search good copies which could pass as genuine paintings.Studyng technology of ancient art materials ( I did) was also very helpfull..All what one needed was old wardrobe board,good quality pigments -avoiding modern and well understanding Cenino Cenini.Good copiest was never without work.All of us we heard about van Meegeren.Necessary very good eye for comparing the most minute stroks of artist brush and colors was most valuable tool copiest or restorer.

  • @whaddup5417
    @whaddup5417 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Anyone notice how many movie scores they threw in to make this more compelling? I heard The Da Vinci Code, Gladiator and even Wall-E (@43:37). Ironic for a doc about forgery

    • @Daughterofbaal
      @Daughterofbaal 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      I’ve noticed music from Amélie as well, in a few of the episodes

    • @belindacorani1590
      @belindacorani1590 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      They also use the Basic Instinct soundtrack !

  • @Tojazzer
    @Tojazzer 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    28:15 It's funny that the fraud officer relates how difficult it is to prove that a supposed Banksy might be fake because fakes are so easy to produce; like the originals?

  • @joeadmin3560
    @joeadmin3560 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I believe this is Series 1, Episode 3. Episode 4 is on Rembrandt.

  • @webartist69
    @webartist69 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Love the documentary, but 23:55 one side of the planes landing tires are available. Just something i noticed.

  • @johnnydtractive
    @johnnydtractive 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Ok so even though up until now I've really enjoyed this series, I've always felt there was something...'off' about it. Like the people involved--including the 2 hosts--knew the answer to whether the painting involved was a fake or real BEFORE they actually filmed most of the scenes of them talking. This episode proves it. The scientists who studied Van Meegeren's forgeries during his trial in 1947 determined at that time that he used bakelite. This fact has been known & written about repeatedly for the 70 years since then. But this episode presents the bakelite as their own 'detection', & the painting as somehow unattributable when a simple test done even 30 years ago could've determined whether bakelite was present.
    It's all too neatly packaged to be a detective story rather than the truth, which is disappointing.

    • @heraldeventsandfilms5970
      @heraldeventsandfilms5970 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      That's typical for TV and it's stretched out to fill an hour, like a puff-piece in a newspaper. Many programmes are made this way, pulp for the masses. Co-incidentally I have worked with Fiona Bruce and she is very pleasant.

    • @carlotta4th
      @carlotta4th ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Except the episode says the trial covered his materials, they only re-tested it since technology has advanced so much it became worthwhile to get a modern record.
      Them talking about bakelite is just for the audience's benefit. They have to explain every step simple for an inexperienced audience. And yes, that does involve some pretending.

    • @kiwilerner
      @kiwilerner ปีที่แล้ว

      @@heraldeventsandfilms5970 I envy you for living somewhere that "pulp for the masses" includes a multi-season show featuring art experts, researchers, historians and scientists educating and identifying classic works. Here we're served up Real Whorehousewives and MILF Island.

    • @heraldeventsandfilms5970
      @heraldeventsandfilms5970 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@kiwilerner There are FAR better features on Van Meegeren than this box-ticking hokum made for idiots. The book 'I Was Vermeer' by Frank Wynne is better than any of them though.

  • @SpaceCattttt
    @SpaceCattttt 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    They look so young! I'd forgotten that.

  • @orsino88
    @orsino88 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    In every version, The Procuress is a hideous painting.

  • @evelynmoyer9069
    @evelynmoyer9069 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Reminds me of the movie, "Incognito".

  • @cathe8282
    @cathe8282 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The modern forger that Fiona talks to didn't sound at all regretful that people were spending a lot of money but then moments later when she asks him why doesn't he fess up to the fakes he knows are still out there he says "I come along and say 'I did that', you just lost a whole mass of money". I think he doesn't want to admit to some of his forgeries because he's proud they're out there, proud he has duped people. He's gone clean in a way but I think there's a part of him that still wants to be doing it.

  • @kgmic
    @kgmic 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    any episodes about El Greco? my favourite

  • @Shirleyy1123
    @Shirleyy1123 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Who can blame that guy for selling forgeries to feed his children? It’s not like rich people don’t already have more money than they know what to do with.

    • @TheKirkby
      @TheKirkby 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      What a horrible statement. You could say that about drug dealers or hit men, there just feeding their children. Do you know how many people lost their life savings because of this man.

    • @Loukbots
      @Loukbots 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      steven kenny None, most of his buyers were Rotterdam nouveau riche port barons.

    • @Loukbots
      @Loukbots 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Or at least van Meegeren did, I wouldn’t know about the forger that tried his techniques in this episode

    • @TheKirkby
      @TheKirkby 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Louk bots your as uneducated as Shirley. Because someone has money it's ok if they get ripped off. Not everyone that bought his painting's had money to throw away. At least know what your talking about before you talk...

    • @Loukbots
      @Loukbots 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      steven kenny They most certainly didn’t lose their life savings. I don’t think Van Meegeren’s actions were moral, and he did indeed sham a people and museums out of large amounts of money, but, just like today, if you’re a middle class shop owner you don’t just buy a Vermeer. The people he shammed had lots of money to spare, and wouldn’t have been happy, but they surely lived a life in prosperity after the purchase. If not, they wouldn’t have been able to afford and justify the buying of such massively expensive paintings.

  • @christine6059
    @christine6059 3 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    “Tart”? Seriously? Goodness me. And I would be surprised if any Dutch people are “proud” of an undeniable Nazi sympathizer. For example, he gave a book of his drawings to Hitler in 1942 and inscribed it “To my beloved Führer in grateful tribute.“ For a fascinating study of van Meegeren, read “The Man Who Made Vermeers,“ by Jonathan Lopez.

    • @cruisepaige
      @cruisepaige ปีที่แล้ว

      I cringed as well.

  • @victoriamilonas1942
    @victoriamilonas1942 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Quite the useful & fascinating episode. I will have all my 17th century paintings tested for bakelite (which I adore in jewelry) and know which forger to attribute it to.

  • @douglasasselstine7497
    @douglasasselstine7497 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    These are our modern day Sherlock Holmes...amazing investigators.

  • @AUGUSTALLEN28
    @AUGUSTALLEN28 ปีที่แล้ว

    I wish John would have revealed his past paintings. Just knowing the facts about the purchase may actually relieve the buyer. The truth shall make you free.

  • @zuluzero4659
    @zuluzero4659 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Best show on bbc ever after dr who

  •  4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    It seems NOT ONLY SOME PAINTINGS ARE FAKE.....BUT "Experts" ALSO.........

  • @nelsonx5326
    @nelsonx5326 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    "van Meegeren was wildly popular because was the man who ripped off Goring". Good job.

  • @denisedecio3851
    @denisedecio3851 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Love them using Uakti as soundtrack

  • @mylesgarcia4625
    @mylesgarcia4625 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    @ the 28:00 mark, they show a version of the famous Banksy "Girl with Balloon" painting which hit the headlines last week; and Fiona and the Scotland Yard mick even discuss it. Maybe the one ripped @ Sotheby's was a Fake??

  • @hectorsmommy1717
    @hectorsmommy1717 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    The whole bakelite thing makes a lot of sense. Formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin are common ingredients in nail polish because it helps it get really nice and hard. Unfortunately, I am allergic so I have to buy formaldehyde free ones.

    • @EGarrett01
      @EGarrett01 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Definitely unfortunate, now you'll never be able to forge Vermeer's.

  • @BeingPollock
    @BeingPollock 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thanks you for sharing. 29:09

  • @heatherr7378
    @heatherr7378 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Very surprised they tossed those paint samples all together in a glass. Shouldn’t they be kept separate and labeled?

    • @JohnDlugosz
      @JohnDlugosz ปีที่แล้ว

      The prepared samples are labeled. The preparer put a paint flake _and a paper label_ in the mold filled with acrylic, and then sanded it down until the edge of the paint flake was exposed. A bag can casually hold these dice-sized acrylic cubes, no problem.

  • @avanconia
    @avanconia 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I love the difference in foragers where you have the guy who got into it just flash in the pan got turned on by the money versus the old guy who was obsessively trying to trick the community...
    The funniest thing is you just know the living forger / teacher is now experimenting to figure out how to use the resin properly lol..

  • @SsecicKG
    @SsecicKG หลายเดือนก่อน

    Van Megreen was painting ‘in style off’ since no one knew how Vemeer’s earliest lesser known paintings looked like, just vague description and size of canvas was given… Everyone believed this was how Veemer painted, these forgeries, before perfecting his style….Van Megreen was a genius…

  • @lindaheath784
    @lindaheath784 ปีที่แล้ว

    Wish There were new programs

  • @TsetsiStoyanova
    @TsetsiStoyanova 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Where is van grovner from?

    • @e.h.5849
      @e.h.5849 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      You mean Bendor Grosvenor?
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendor_Grosvenor

  • @ronmcknight1500
    @ronmcknight1500 5 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    Great program love fake and fortune. When goring found out that his painting was forged , he is reported to have Said , isn't there terrible evil in the world what an evil so a so he was eh .

  • @robhappe2705
    @robhappe2705 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The resin was van M. ‘mode of operations’, his competency. It should be in all his pictures I presume.

  • @julianabarrington1954
    @julianabarrington1954 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Its surprising that at least some of theses fakes passed as most that were shown had an absurd cartoon quality about them.

  • @scruffycritter
    @scruffycritter 5 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    I wish they had learned how to pronounce "Van Meegeren" properly before they went and made a whole program about him.

    • @stuart8663
      @stuart8663 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Exactly ! its pronounced "Van Meegeren" not "Van Meegeren":

    • @johnnydtractive
      @johnnydtractive 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@stuart8663 Thanks for clearing that up!

  • @kamikaas803
    @kamikaas803 5 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    He had to work at least twice as hard than the original painter. If i ever had a collection, it would be of van Meegeren

    • @peppigue
      @peppigue 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Or a painting of Brienne of Tarth

    • @dawn5227
      @dawn5227 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      No real artist has to work with such skill and dedication as that of a forgery. He really went to some crazy levels to fake it. No wonder people admire him, its hard not to admire his skills and dedication.

  • @hollygolightly8048
    @hollygolightly8048 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Visually and without chemical analysis and at first blush this painting is obviously a forgery. The countenance of those painted looks sophomoric. Nothing like anything Ver Meer would paint. Reminds me of the supposed art experts pushing the Salvador Mundi as a complete Leonardo when anyone can see the face is not the work of Leonardo. He may have painted portions of the piece in a studio with students, but that face is nothing Leonardo would produce.

    • @Intrepid_Explorer
      @Intrepid_Explorer 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The Salvator Mundi is at least partially attributed to Leonardo based on surviving passages of the right blessing hand and details of the orb he's holding. The problem is that the face was so badly damaged and abraded that the restorer essentially had to repaint it with almost nothing to go off of, hence why details of the jawline, nose and eyes are uneven and crooked. The cleaned painting didn't have those flaws.

  • @r0der1ck_0nl1ne
    @r0der1ck_0nl1ne 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "If you can't be good, be good at it."

  • @Baskerville22
    @Baskerville22 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Surely if there was doubt about this painting, the Courtauld Institute would not have waited 18 years till a TV programme came calling before it put the experts to work to determine its authenticity ? The TV presenters knew the result before this was filmed. A bit like those Do You Know Who You Are shows.

  • @paulamourad4699
    @paulamourad4699 5 ปีที่แล้ว

    What are the ingredients to accomplish the white of the pearl earring? I can't figure out what the salesman says.

    • @sfd373
      @sfd373 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Paula Mourad Urine-soaked lead buried in dung. Just google Flake White.

  • @ghostofdayinperson
    @ghostofdayinperson ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Why is no one talking about how badly painted Van Meegren’s fake Vermeers are? Fiona said they were “kind of rubbish”, but that’s the understatement of the century. Van Meegren might have been extraordinarily clever with his materials, but the final results of the fake Vermeers are so obviously not Vermeer and look extremely amateurish. I just can’t fathom how they fooled experts. It’s actually really disturbing. Fake and bake!

    • @audreymuzingo933
      @audreymuzingo933 ปีที่แล้ว

      I agree 100%. And I'm only an amateur as well, but his mock 'Girl Reading A Letter' -you know what it reminds me of? This paint-by-number replica of The Last Supper by da Vinci that my grandmother painted back in the 50's. Like it wasn't an El Cheapo one, it was pretty big and well-designed so that the painter could get in lots of detail, and my grandma did - she probably did the very best anyone could do with a paint-by-number and it turned out beautiful! But still, all carefully dragged lines, no color blending, etc., it definitely did not look like an original painting, never mind da Vinci's.

  • @gloriapinskerportraits4801
    @gloriapinskerportraits4801 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Never saw them so excited about a fake! 🤣🤣🤣